Well, I am here. You are probably reading this, my first post, weeks, if not months after I posted it. Whether you are reading it moments after I write it or years later, I am glad you are here. I just turned 46 and I have been writing since I was at least 12. I remember talking to my stepfather when I was 14 and telling him that I wanted to get a degree in psychology so I could be a better writer. He laughed at me, in that shrill cackle that I grew to resent, and called me a “fuck-stick”. Thinking back, don’t know if he called me a fuck-stick this time in particular. He employed the term so much in my youth, though, that it’s barely a lie if he didn’t this one time. I never did go get that degree. I don't know if I will ever get that degree. I know I like to write though. I call myself a "writer", but what I really want to be is an Author. I'd like to welcome you to this platform: my first step into public life and maybe towards fulfilling that dream that started so long ago.
When I first started thinking about what it meant to be an author, I imagined the authors I grew up with: Patterson, Cussler, and Clancy were some of my favorites. You might even see their influences in my works. I imagined publishing deals. I imagined the New York Times Bestseller List. I imagined book signings at Barnes and Noble. Maybe my fantasies drifted off into the more fanciful realms where I was some kind of star though I am sure no author really get's accosted on their way out of the Starbucks. I don't know if it's like that anymore and so I started making a plan about five years ago to build my own platform upon which to share what has become my life's ambition.
There is a lot of stuff that I need to do yet to connect with you, and to run the wires that allow you to connect to me. This is going to be something of a learning process for me. I want to get it right. I think that there is a danger here that if I try to do too much, too quickly, this becomes less about connecting with you and more about just managing my "audience". I don't know if I am influencer material. Of course, if I go the other way and grumble about "kids these days" and refuse to play the social media game, I run the risk of going the other direction. Let’s make a deal, you and I and start here. I will post on my blog. You can read it. And we'll throw in some Instagram, Twitter/X, or Facebook sprinkles as I bake this cookie... or cake. Whatever I can use sprinkles on.
Most of what I will be publishing on this platform will be set in The Blacksmith Literary Universe, though I will occasionally write short stories as the whimsy takes me that may have nothing to do with that setting. My first major installment set in the Universe will a novella titled The Lightyears Between Us and will launch in February 2027. This will begin a release schedule that resembles a "season".
Lightyears introduces an author named Lillian who encounters a man from the very edge of settled space. Through her eyes I will introduce you to this Universe I have spent over a decade creating. I will follow that with an anthology of twelve short stories, each from the perspective of a different person who walks through these worlds.
I will bring this season to a close with a novella titled The Broadcast, but this will be nowhere near the end of the story. This first journey should last about fourteen months start to finish if everything goes according to plan, and I hope by The Broadcast you will be as excited about this Universe as I am. More than that this season will serve as the prelude to Panopticon, my first novel.
I am excited to share The Blacksmith Universe with you. I hope as I develop it, write about the people and places in it, you will be as excited to read it as I am to write it for you. As we get to know each other, I'll share updates on my writing and the projects I am working on. I'll also share insights about this universe I am creating, how I think about certain problems humanity might encounter, and how we might overcome those problems together.
I think "we'll be okay." That's really what The Blacksmith Universe is about. It's my vision of what a planet of talking apes could get up to as we break the bonds of this tiny little planet. It's a vast galaxy beyond the influence of our tiny little yellow star. We are amazing creatures and I admire our ingenuity, curiosity, and imagination. Yes, there is also an ugliness to us and we'll always bring that with us wherever we go. What a wonder it is to contemplate what we may bring into that vastness with us, for good or ill. I want to tell those stories.
Last week, I learned of the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. It is not a small amount of who am am today that I can attribute to my years of watching him in roles that would be defining for me. There was a steadiness about him that continues to give me hope, even now after he has gone. I hope, dear reader, as you get to know all of the people in The Blacksmith Universe you feel the influence this man had on me.
Now, let's wee what's out there.